Improvement in lamps for burning heavy oils



ROBERT HITCHCOCK.

Lamp for Burning Heavy Oils.

N0 125 954 Patented April 23,1872.

Fly. 2

ROBERT HITGHCOOK, OF WATERTOWN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN LAMPS FOR BURNING HEAVY OILS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 125,954, dated April23, 1872.

To whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT HITCHOOGK, of Watertown, J efl'erson county,New York State, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements inLamps for Burning Lard, Sperm and other Heavy Animal or Mineral Oils, ofwhich the following is a specification:

My invention is directed to the burning of heavy oils in lamps in suchmanner that a brilliant flame without smoke may be produced withoutrequiring the use of a chimney. To the accomplishment of this object Ihave found the following instrumentalities requisite: First, passages orducts through which air may be conducted both to the exterior andinterior of the flame from the wick; second, mechanism for impellin gcurrents ofair through these passages to both the exterior and interiorof the flame; third, a deflecting cap or cone placed over the wick, withan aperture for the passage of the flames, and so shaped as to directthe external-impelled current of air to impinge upon the exterior of theflame.

I claim separately neither the employment in a lamp of anartificially-impelled current of air, nor the employment of air-passagesarranged to convey air both to the interior and exterior of the flame,for I am aware that these features, separately considered, are not new,and have been heretofore contained in lamps. The lamp patented toKeravenan in 1863 may be taken as the type of the first-named kind oflamp, and the common argand burner or lamp as the type of the second.Neither of these in itself is competent to produce the result which Ihave in view, and it is only by the union of the three above-specifiedinstrumentalities that a lamp can be made in which an illuminating flamewill be produced from heavy oils without the use of a glass chimney.

To enable those skilled in the art to understand and use my invention, Ishall now proceed to describe the manner in which the same is or may becarried into efl'ect by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which-Figure 1 is a vertical central section of a lamp made in accordance withmy invention. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same with the cone removed.

I prefer to make the oil-reservoir and all the parts which it carries ofmetal or some other good heat-conducting material, in order to keep thelard, sperm, or other heavy oil in the lamp at the requisite temperatureto enable it to burn freely and to be taken up readily by the wick. Theoil-reservoir is shown at A, of any suitable size and shape. Extendingcentrally up through it is the central draughttube at, around which,when the lamp is in use, the wicking, composed either of a tubular wickor one or two flat ones, is placed. For the purpose of producing a flator bats-wing flame I prefer to make the top of the tube oval in section,as shown in Fig. 2, or approaching the form of the ordinary flatwick-tube. Below its top the tube expands or is made more nearlycylindrical, for the purpose of allowing any pieces of charred wick orburnt matches that may fall into the tube to pass downthrough it withoutimpediment. To prevent this refuse from falling upon and clogging theair-impelling mechanism I place below the bottom of the tube an ash-boxor shield, b, which is united with the body of the lamp in any suitableway. In this instance it is provided with atubular tenon, c, fitting inthe lower end of the tube a, both tube and tenon being perforated toadmit the passage of the impelled current up through the central draughtspace. The lampreservoir is connected in any suitable manner with theframe that contains the mechanism for producing the artificialair-blast. It is in this case fitted in a socket or sleeve, which formsa continuation of the case that contains the fan 61. This fan is drivenby clock-work of any suitable kind, as shown in the drawing, which issurrounded by a base, B, serving to protect and conceal the works, holes6 or other openings being provided for the admission of air to the fan.The external air-current may be caused to pass to the flame eitheraround the exterior of or through the oil-reservoir.

The latter arrangement, which I prefer on several accounts, bothbecauseit economizes space and serves to more effectually heat the oil, isshown in the drawing. At suitable distances from and on each side of thecentral tube a are placed tubes or conduits f, which extend up to orabove the top of the oil-reservoir and also down through the bottom ofthe same. Through these conduits, as well as through the central tube,the impelled current of air from the fan is discharged upon the flame.To direct the external currents to properly impinge upon the flame Iemploy a deflector or cone, 9, with a slot, h, in it to correspond withthe shape of the flame desired to be produced. This cone is arrangedabove the wick-tube and is held in place in any ordinary or suitablemanner. I prefer that it should rest directly upon and in contact withthe top of the reservoir, as shown in Fig. 1, where it fits upon a neckrising from the top of the reservoir, so that all of its heat may beconducted through the Walls of the reservoir to the oil within. Thecentral tube a and the tubes f also conduct heat to the oil, which isthus kept in as fluid a state as practicable, and is subjected as far aspossible to the actionof all the heat which can be conveyed to it. Forthe purpose of still further heating the oil, and also of holding thewicktube in place, I employ around the central tube a an exterior tubeor jacket, k, of the same general conformation, but of sufficientlygreater diameter to fit loosely around the wick which surrounds thecentral tube. This exterior heating and supporting tube is removable, sothat it may be taken out at any time, andI propose to attach to it thewick-raisin g wheels usually employed, so that all these parts may,whenever it is required to remove the wick or to clean the lamp, belifted out together from the lamp. Thejaeket is slit or perforated, soas to admit oil through it to the wick. The top of the reservoir may becovered in any suitable way, but I find it suflicient to use the cone asa cover, the arrangement for this purpose being such as shown in Fig. 1.For the purpose of quickly heating a sufficient portion of the oil toenable the lamp to burn well until the main body of the oil has beenraised to the proper temperature I form on the top of the reservoir andin the immediate neighborhood of the highly-heated metallic portions ofthe lamp an auxiliary reservoir, 0, which communicates through openingsor in any suitable manner with the main reservoir. In this reservoir acomparatively thin sheet of oil is surrounded on all sides by the mosthighly-heated portions of the lamp, so that when the lamp is lighted thesmall quantity of oil contained in the reservoir becomes almostinstantly heated and affords the necessary supply of heated oil to thewick until the main body of the oil in the reservoir below has beenraised to the proper heat.

In order to render this reservoir available the lamp must of course befilled each time it is used.

The exterior of the lamp-reservoir maybe surrounded, if desired, by asuitable jacket or sheath of any material, and the lamp may have anyconfiguration desired. The clock-work is wound up by means of a key, asis usual in this class of lamps.

Having described my invention, and the manner in which the same is ormay be carried into effect, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

1. A lamp for burning heavy oils, in which the wick tube or holder andoil-reservoir are combined with conduits or passages for conducting airboth to the exterior and interior of the flame; mechanism for forciblyimpellin g air through said passages; and a deflector or cone,substantially as herein shown and described. 4

2. The employment in a lamp substantially such as described, of anauxiliary oil-reservoir, arranged above and communicating with the mainreservoir, substantially as shown and set forth.

3. The central draught and wick tube, flattened at the top and enlargedor expanded below to allow the charred wick and other refuse to fallthroughit withoutimpediment, as shown and set forth.

4. In combination with the central draughttube, the ash-box or shieldattached to the oilreservoirandplacedbelow said centraldraughttube,between it and the air-impelling mechanism, as shown and set forth.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification beforetwo subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT HITGHCOCK.

Witnesses M. DAILEY, EDM. F. BROWN.

